Sunday, October 31, 2010

Halloween Brunch & Apple-Pie Cinnamon Rolls

Happy Halloween! Yesterday morning our friends Alana & Jake hosted a friendly little pre-Halloween brunch. It was so great. It was a rainy, wintery morning, and it was so perfect to be cozy inside with great friends and great food. There was a big pot of hot apple cider welcoming us... and before long the table started to fill up with tasty goodness!

Alana made Beer-battered Fried Tofu. Personally I am totally terrified of deep frying... and really I don't even eat much fried food. But Alana was clearly a pro! We were all crowding around and admiring her frying expertise... and the delicious little tofus she was pulling out of the pot!

... Just look how beautiful they turned out! She served them up with malt vinegar, which was crazy yummy. I hadn't ever had some thing like this before, and now I'll probably have to wait until Alana hosts another brunch party before I eat them again. Which is probably okay, since I don't really need to be eating these guys all the time. But it was really yummy!

Jake cooked up some seriously RAD waffles. Thick and fluffy and perfect! Watch out, the waffle monster is about to take all of them! Back off, waffle monster!

Sophia brought along roasted pears, which were sooooooo good, and a perfect light component of our brunchy carb-fest. I put them on my waffle, and that was most definitely a winning combo. I think I'll be making some roasted pears of my own sometime soon. And then maybe I'll put them on waffles.

Cold&Sleepy brought some really good pumpkin bread (with bonus pecans). It was perfectly seasonal in its flavors... and also perfectly baked so that it was still moist, but not soggy at all. And Alana also made some coffee cake, which was great because I happen to love coffee cake.

As for me, I made the Scrambled Tofu with Kale & Yams from "Vegan Brunch." This is my special dish that I make every. single. time. Mr. Vegan Eats & Treats is away. It brings together two of my favorite foods (kale and sweet potatoes), which happen to be two foods he completely can't stand. So, in loving honor of his absence this weekend, The Scramble was made. And enjoyed. Twice.

Next up I made some super deeeelicious Apple Pie Cinnamon Rolls. I used the cinnamon rolls recipe from Vegan Brunch, but I added some diced apples. I took 3 apples, peeled & cored & diced into 1/2" cubes. Then I sauteed them with a little Earth Balance. After a minute or two, I added the scraped out innards of about 1/2 of a vanilla bean (magic!) and a splash of rum and sauteed another couple minutes. Then I proceeded with the cinnamon roll recipe as usual, just adding in my apple yumminess with the cinnamon and sugar. For these rolls, I finally tried the method of doing the first rise the night before, and then letting the second rise happen slowly overnight in the fridge. It was RAD. These were the fluffiest, yummiest, most perfect and delicious cinnamon rolls I have ever made. And the apples were great. I think there could be even MORE apples... maybe next time I'll try 4 apples!

Here they are, all decorated with frosting. Sorry the pics are so dark, but like I said, it was a seriously grey and rainy day. All the better for brunching and cinnamon rolling, my dear!

Here's my plate... full of deliciousness! Of course I went back for a cinnamon roll. Plus there were so many tasty morning beverages... hot apple cider, OJ!, and hot coffee. Ahhh. Seriously, I was in a state of total happiness. Good friends and good food is a magical combination.

13 comments:

Your cinnamon rolls look amazing Amey! I'm also a fan of kale and sweet potatoes, I'll have to try that scramble.

Have you tried the creamy sweet potato bake from the Vegan Yum Yum cookbook? It's a pasta bake with sweet potatoes and kale and this creamy alfredo-like sauce (but with warm fall spices). It's a winner and I think you'd like it if you like those two together!

Oh my goodness, that brunch looks like the best thing ever! I'm scared of deep frying too but I've wanted to try that beer battered tofu for SO long that I might have to give it a go - hopefully something deep fried will come up in my MoFo cookbook challenge next week.

You would bring something healthy to a brunch potluck. Just kidding! It all looks amazing! I've only made cinnamon rolls a few times, and I always do the first rise the night before because there's no way I'm getting up that early, ever :)

Yowza! That's a lot of good-looking food! I like the idea of the beer battered tofu and malt vinegar- kind of like fish and chips! Sounds like great junk food. And those cinnamon rolls are just gorgeous! What a cool brunch!